Dilemma on trolling Motor

I want to add a trolling motor on my 20 foot pontoon boat. The trouble is that I dock it on my lake with no power source so I have to pull the battery / batteries to charge it. I am guessing the boat weight to be around 2,200#.
I know I should get a 24v 80# + motor. But do you think a 12v 55# thrust would be enough to troll/ push with and for spot lock? I don’t want to put $2k in a system that will not work. I have a 25HP Yamaha 4 stroke that I troll cranks with during the summer but want to go slower during the spring and fall. We do a lot of side drifting so it would be also used when there is no wind.

I am leaning towards a terova I need a remote, would like to use the motor for a front transducer as I will be upgrading to a new fish finder with side and or down imagining late this year or next. (The only fish finder I have now is a old mini low range used primarily for depth. ) Also to be able to use gps to stay on certain depths while trolling. I am not up to date at all with the new electronics out now and my mind is blown trying to do research. Any input would be greatly appreciated!!!


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I have a buddy with a pontoon about the same size as you have. He runs a 12 volt minnkota but he has two batteries hooked together. This motor is a 5 speed so we added a variable speed box and he fishes all day with no issues.

I have a 22 foot crest super fish. ( Heavy) I had a Terrova I Pilot / 55 pound thrust on it for a long time. It worked very well. It will do you fine for trolling and side drifting. I had to up grade due to health issues and I now have the ulterra 36 volt. How far do you have to carry your battery? Could a drop cord reach your dock? Just thinking you could get a small charger or a onboard charger to eliminate carrying batteries. BTW make sure you get a long enough shaft for the TM. You want to be able to see it easily from any distance. Hope you find a solution for everything.

I think a lot will depend on how windy it gets on your lake


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My quick answer would be no. 55# is marginal at best on breezy days. which wind blows more often than not. But that brings me to the battery situation. Money fixes that as lipo batt would be lighter to haul back and forth. You just got to figure out which demon you fight. Small troller or weight lifting batteries. My 22 foot Lowe pontoon has 84# Motorguide which does well but a pontoon can blow around like a sailboat so you have to give it power to control. Good luck and let us know how you do.

I was coming back to this to reference the above battery use. Also you could use a solar panel for charging your batteries. Just thinking out loud. :highfive

Is spot lock available in 12 volt?

The Terrova 55 12V has spotlock

I would talk to Brian @ BBG Marine before you buy any motor with a transducer. I just bought one from another vendor, not knowing about Brian. I found out the US2 transducer will not do SI or DI. It will only do 2D image... so I blew a few hundred bucks on a transducer that won't do what I want. Now I either have to buy another motor with the correct transducer, or I will have to run a cable down the trolling motor shaft and attach a transducer on the TM.. exactly what I was trying to avoid.

A quick conversation with Brian will save you my heartache and embarrassment.

MK V2 Power Drive 12v has spot lock also.

There is a formula to figure how much trolling motor thrust you need.
Loaded boat weight / 100 * 2 = thrust
Example: 2,200 / 100 * 2 = 44 pounds of thrust.

I like to add a little for excess wind.
Loaded boat weight / 100 * 2.5 = thrust. Gives a good fudge factor for wind.
2,200 / 100 * 2.5 = 55 pounds of thrust. So a 55 pound thrust trolling motor would be sufficient.

Definition of Loaded boat weight = Boat, plus passengers, plus boat motor + gas, batteries, trolling motor, fishing gear, anchors, etc. Everything on the boat.

As for batteries. With a 12volt Trolling motor you can start with one battery and see if it meets your needs. If not, you can add another in parallel. I would also start out with group 31 batteries. They are heavier, but will hold a charge longer.
As for hauling the batteries, get a cart, dolly, wagon. Bigger the wheels the easier it will roll on rough terrain.
Solar panels would be a great option if your not using the boat everyday all day.

Series 31 wet cell batteries can weigh up to 75 lbs each. 60 amp amped lithium batteries weigh 13.7 lbs each and cost 370.00 each. You can get up to 2 days continuous trolling most times unless in a heavy wind all day with a 12 or 24 volt trolling motor without charging. I get 3 days or more with my 100 amp batteries continuous trolling crankbaits with a 12 v powerdrive trolling motor without charging and most times have still 40% left in them before charging. I use Ionic Lithium batteries that have a Bluetooth phone app for monitoring my battery usage. Solar panels have continuously been discussed before,,and on bbc forum and there is no perfect workable solution in using solar panels due to expense, size of the panels you would need, wattage output, slowness of charging, and having to have continuous sunlight. Amazon.com

Marine/Solar Lithium Batteries | Amped Outdoors
Ionic Lithium Marine Batteries - Drewcraft LLC

I keep my boat at a storage yard with no power access. I set up a 100w Solar Panel system to charge my 4 batteries - 2/Trolling Motor, 1/Crank, 1/Electronics.
I use the boat once a week on average and batteries are always fully charged from the Solar Panel. I've had this set-up 4 years and no problems.
It was an initial few hundred dollar investment, but no more hauling heavy batteries back and forth - saves on the ol' Back and Chiropractor bills,
so more money in the long run for fishing :fish

Personally, if I were using a 20’ pontoon..I would want a 80# trolling motor due to wind as I sometimes cannot maintain 2.2 mph trolling crankbaits in a 1648 jon boat weighing as much as 1200 lbs with just me and gear and fully rigged In a 1-2’ chop with the wind blowing at least 10-15 mph. My next upgrade will be to go to 80 lb trolling motor.

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Originally Posted by BigDawgg

I have a 22 foot crest super fish. ( Heavy) I had a Terrova I Pilot / 55 pound thrust on it for a long time. It worked very well. It will do you fine for trolling and side drifting. I had to up grade due to health issues and I now have the ulterra 36 volt. How far do you have to carry your battery? Could a drop cord reach your dock? Just thinking you could get a small charger or a onboard charger to eliminate carrying batteries. BTW make sure you get a long enough shaft for the TM. You want to be able to see it easily from any distance. Hope you find a solution for everything.

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Thanks for the info. My boat is about 50 ft out on the dock. But my house is a couple hundred yards away so no chance of power.
I was originally thinking shorter the better on the shaft length until you said about watching the head of the unit. How long is the shaft on your ulterra?


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Posted twice ( deleted)

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Originally Posted by cevans

MK V2 Power Drive 12v has spot lock also.

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With all due respect, I don’t believe it does. I believe spot lock must be added. My Power Drive was an 06 model and I had to add it and it didn’t work very well.

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Originally Posted by Hocky;[URL="tel:4098238"

4098238[/URL]]With all due respect, I don’t believe it does. I believe spot lock must be added. My Power Drive was an 06 model and I had to add it and it didn’t work very well.

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. So you had to add it...I added it also..to get the best and updated spot lock,,get any other make of MK after 2018 and you have the best spot lock.

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Originally Posted by chippewa

Thanks for the info. My boat is about 50 ft out on the dock. But my house is a couple hundred yards away so no chance of power.
I was originally thinking shorter the better on the shaft length until you said about watching the head of the unit. How long is the shaft on your ulterra?


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Minn Kota Ulterra 112 Trolling Motor w/iPilot & Bluetooth - 36V-112lb-72" is what I have. I've had it a couple of years now and I need to up grade. I have the Helix 12 mega image and I'd like to upgrade to use it up front when tight lining with down image. Still a long way off so I'm sure something else will come out between now and then. LOL Hope you get something going with your battery situation. :highfive

A few rolls of underground romex and a rented trencher would get you power to the dock. Beat the heck out of toting batteries.

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A few rolls of underground romex and a rented trencher would get you power to the dock. Beat the heck out of toting batteries.

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Might need something heavier for that long of a run, but power to the dock would be my 1st choice.

Possible you could invest in a small 2000 watt inverter generator and nice 50 foot 12 ga cord?

Easier to schlep a small generator than disconnecting batteries and you would have a generator for other possible needs.

Just spit balling ideas.

DO'NT EVEN THINK ABOUT A 55 PLEASE.gary

Everybody is discussing boat weight vs. thrust of a trolling motor. Add the weight to the boat of the bodies you will have on the pontoon also. What is the max people you might have in the pontoon at one time? Figure the poundage of the people added as well as extra equipment like iced coolers as it will affect the pulling power of the trolling motor especially when you add the lightest wind.

We have a 20' Pontoon fishing boat. Started with a 55# thrust TM. Not enough power. Upgraded to 80# 24v Terrova. Very happy with it.

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Originally Posted by deltarat

A few rolls of underground romex and a rented trencher would get you power to the dock. Beat the heck out of toting batteries.

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I would if it was my property. There are a couple houses in-between mine and the lake.


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Originally Posted by FishSeeker

I keep my boat at a storage yard with no power access. I set up a 100w Solar Panel system to charge my 4 batteries - 2/Trolling Motor, 1/Crank, 1/Electronics.
I use the boat once a week on average and batteries are always fully charged from the Solar Panel. I've had this set-up 4 years and no problems.
It was an initial few hundred dollar investment, but no more hauling heavy batteries back and forth - saves on the ol' Back and Chiropractor bills,
so more money in the long run for fishing :fish

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Would love solar panels but it is a floating dock and it gets a lot of waves and rocking from skiers. Neighbor had one out and it got beat up bad.


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Originally Posted by cevans

Series 31 wet cell batteries can weigh up to 75 lbs each. 60 amp amped lithium batteries weigh 13.7 lbs each and cost 370.00 each. You can get up to 2 days continuous trolling most times unless in a heavy wind all day with a 12 or 24 volt trolling motor without charging. I get 3 days or more with my 100 amp batteries continuous trolling crankbaits with a 12 v powerdrive trolling motor without charging and most times have still 40% left in them before charging. I use Ionic Lithium batteries that have a Bluetooth phone app for monitoring my battery usage. Solar panels have continuously been discussed before,,and on bbc forum and there is no perfect workable solution in using solar panels due to expense, size of the panels you would need, wattage output, slowness of charging, and having to have continuous sunlight. Amazon.com

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Do you need a special charger for the lithium batteries? Might be a good solution if I can get them at the price you said.


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[QUOTE=chippewa;[URL="tel:4098827"]4098827[/URL]]Do you need a special charger for the lithium batteries? Might be a good solution if I can get them at the price you said.

Yes, however, a lot of wet cell chargers that have a AGM setting can charge lithium batteries also. I think Amped chargers are some of the least expensive around. Some of the 3 bank and 4 bank chargers can be rather expensive. Just have to shop around. I have a ProMariner Pro Sport 20 amp 2 bank set to AGM setting that charges my Ionic Lithiums 100% and also a NOCO 10 amp single bank Lithium (only) Charger I use. You need to check with your lithium manufacturer to see what they recommend on what they would recommend when resetting a wet cell charger to AGM setting to work. However, on bbc postings,,a lot of the members are posting,,their manufacturers may not be truthful in the using of converted wet cell battery chargers to AGM setting as they all want to sell you their lithium chargers.

This is a lengthy posting,,has a lot of answered questions in it,,more biased in a way towards Ionic Batteries,,but still is 100% educational covering all aspects of Lithium usage.

Who wants lithium?

Cold weather lithium usage. Cold Weather Lithium Use. Answers a few questions.

Cold weather charging issues...this might answer some people’s questions. If a lithium Battery isn't to be charged below freezing, what happens if

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Originally Posted by chippewa

I would if it was my property. There are a couple houses in-between mine and the lake.


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If you are in good with the neighbors it wouldn't hurt to ask them if you could cross them. It wouldn't bother me for someone to trench a 4" trench across me if it would help someone. A few filets might sweeten the deal...lol

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Originally Posted by Hocky

With all due respect, I don’t believe it does. I believe spot lock must be added. My Power Drive was an 06 model and I had to add it and it didn’t work very well.

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No it doesn’t. I have one that has iPilot and spot lock from the factory.

As to the OP, you’re never going to be happy with a 55# trolling motor on your pontoon I don’t think. I’d go at minimum 80#, and I think you’d be happier with a 112#.